Highland Master

Highland Master by Amanda Scott 629

The Cameron and the Chattan clans have been feuding for centuries and the cruel Duke of Albany, brother to the King of Scotland, decides that they should have a great battle to finalize everything. At the end Sir Finlagh is the only member of his clan who is left and, at the encouragement of a Cameron friend, he jumps into the river and escapes certain death. Four years later, Catriona Mackintosh finds Fin wounded in the forest and takes him back to her castle where he learns that she is the granddaughter of the leader of the Chattan Clan, the Mackintosh. Her father had lead the Chattan clan during the great battle and Fin had sworn to his father right before his father died that he would kill him. But the Mackintosh family takes him in and he realizes that he cannot kill his own host, or do that to Catriona, whom he is quickly coming to respect and like. Catriona has a reputation in her family of being a wildcat who acts and talks before she thinks and it does not take her long to discover that Fin will not stand for her losing her temper with him.

However, danger lurks in the form of the Duke of Albany and Fin is actually working for the future King of Scotland in an attempt to form an alliance with the Mackintosh. When Davy Stewart shows up he immediately begins flirting with Catriona and this makes Fin very nervous, and quite jealous but there is little he can do because Davy is royalty. The leader of a neighboring clan, the Comryns, also has his eye on Catriona and is determined to make life difficult for everyone until Catriona agrees to marry him. The meeting between Davy and the Mackintosh, and several other clan leaders, doesn't go precisely as planned and there is quite a bit of bickering. Things calm down temporarily when a misunderstanding leads Davy to insist on Catriona and Fin getting married and they are both worried about the other's feelings for them. Albany has one last trick up his sleeve and pulls out all the stops in a move that could threaten the Chattans, the Camerons, and all of Scotland. Catriona and Fin must work together to put an end to the threat and then admit their feelings for each other.

When I read a romance novel I like having some historical elements thrown in, especially when they are true and it's history I am interested in, but it is really important for the romance and the relationship between the main characters to be the central focus. Everything else to me should be in the background and should serve as a backdrop or an impetus to speed things along, but either way it should not overwhelm or take over from the next story. This book really suffered because the focus of the book was on the history and the suspense surrounding the Duke of Albany and the alliance between the Mackintosh and Davy Stewart. I felt like the romance was not even the secondary element, but more like the fourth and their relationship/ their meeting was merely the impetus for getting Fin to converse/ form an alliance with the Mackintosh and, just as bad, a way for the reader to learn more about the feuding between the two different clans. Catriona and Fin were rarely alone, had far too little quality time, and when they were together they were dealing with the other elements of the plot.

Catriona started as a likable character because she was independent and caring but as the book progressed she got incredibly annoying. It started with everyone talking about what a firecracker she was and although she eventually did show that she had a temper, by almost slapping someone who insulted her and then talking loudly without thinking (gasp!), it came across as incredibly condescending on everyone's part and made her almost childlike. Fin was one of those condescending people so it was difficult to like him and, aside from his loyalty to Davy Stewart, whom I did not think deserved it, he didn't really seem to have anything going for him. His guilt over what happened during the clan battle was ridiculous and obviously meant to flesh him out, but it failed miserably. They were apparently very attracted to each other, but absolutely nothing happened until near the very end and, without going into details, there was one scene that rather repulsed me in it's abruptness.

Rating: The book was far too long and far too little of that was on the relationship. I did not like the book, but I appreciated the writing style and the historical elements to some extent.

Tempted by a Warrior by Amanda Scott

Tempted by a Warrior by Amanda Scott 909

Richard Seyton, Laird of Kirkhill, is called to visit his dying uncle, Old Jardine, because Jardine wants to talk to him about possibly inherited his estate. Jardine's son, Will, has been missing for several weeks and he wants to settle some things before he passes on. Kirkhill is not at all fond of his uncle and he does not know what happened to Will but he soon hears the rumors that Will's wife, Fiona, killed him. After meeting Fiona he knows that this would be impossible even if it is likely that Will certainly deserved death after everything he had done to Fiona. Fiona is furious when she discovers that Old Jardine is placing Kirkhill in charge of the entire estate, including herself, and her soon to be born son. She wastes no time acting on her feelings and behaves like a spoiled child, which irritates Kirkhill and causes him to make comparisons to his young and spoiled sister.

At the same time that he thinks she is too immature he is certainly attracted to her, but he has so much on his plate and with rumors about her involvement in her husbands disappearance circling, he is determined to stay away from her. Things are made more complicated when the English Earl of Northumberland threatens to invade Scotland and Kirkhill must prepare his own men and the men of Jardine's estate for battle. And his sister, Nan, is being a brat and refusing to marry the man of Kirkhill's choosing, whom she is in love with and who loves her for reasons I can't really figure out. There are also bridges to mend with Fiona's family who she has not seen since she eloped and of course they must figure out what happened to Will and prove Fiona's innocence. So with all this going on around them Kirkhill and Fiona still find time to fall in love and together work out all the crazy problems in their life.

My first thought in this book was how young Fiona was and how the book did almost nothing to make me think that her age was just a number and she was really mature. She behaved like the spoiled child he accused of her being and it was made even worse by his reaction to her as he threatened to throw her over his knee (like he would a child) and the constant comparisons to his sister's own unruly behavior. It really made him seem condescending to her and a relationship between them rather pedophilic really, although she was 17. So I guess that's one of the reasons I didn't really mind that there was no sex until the very end and even then it was not very good and was preceded by a few rather tame kisses. With so much going on around them these two had no time with just the two of them really and I did not really see how they managed to fall in love- it really just came out of left field.

But far and away the reason I did not really like this book was because the actual romance between the two of them seemed to be the fifth most important element in the story. First was the incoming battle of which there just seemed to be far too much planning and really made the story confusing as it mentioned lots of places and people who were unimportant and just blew through my mind. Second was what happened to Will which was certainly interesting and was an important and necessary element in the story. Third was his dealings with his family and how to deal with his sister and her insane antics, but more importantly him finally getting to know his mother to some degree. Fourth was her own dealings with her family which could have been interesting but seemed to turn into a big family reunion where we got to see how happy everyone from previous books is. And then... they fall in love.

Rating: This book was readable and the writing was well done, but I really just hated the romance aspect of it- or lack thereof.

Seduced by a Rogue

Seduced by a Rogue by Amanda Scott 208

When Robert Maxwell is sent by his brother Alex, the sheriff of a Scottish county, to assess the value of Laird Dunwythie, he knows that convincing the proud man to hand over control of the county's tithes to the king is not going to be easy. He does not intend to find himself so incredibly drawn to the laird's eldest daughter, Mairi. Mairi does not at all like that Rob is trying to take the duty that her father's family has yielded for generations in order to increase power for the Maxwell clan. But Rob Maxwell's eyes are clear blue and his voice calm and assured and long after her father has turned him away Mairi finds herself thinking of him. Alex berates Rob severely when he returns with news that he has been unsuccessful and on his way to his own home, Trailinghall, he comes up with an idea to kidnap the lady Mairi and use her as leverage, not necessarily a hostage, to get her father to agree to the Maxwell demands. Mairi is furious but she has learned through years of experience with her stepmother that giving in to your temper never solves the problem so she tries to make the best of things.

Robert intends to use Mairi as a bargaining chip to get her father to agree to his demands, but he does not expect Mairi's independence, her control over herself, and her self assurance to win him over. Rob becomes Mairi's connection to the outside world and the more time they spend together the more convinced she becomes that Rob is not the evil Maxwell her father had led her to believe. He knows that nothing can become of any relationship between them but neither can really help the feelings that have sprung up between them. Dunwythie is furious when he realizes what has happened and he immediately goes around the country rallying support for his cause; both to get his daughter back and to prevent the new taxation rules from being enforced. Alex is not any happier to hear about what Rob has done and he demands that Rob hand Mairi over to him, but Rob knows that Alex is thinking about the possibility that Mairi is very likely to inherit her father's estates and what he can do to prevent this. Things come to a head between all the characters and Rob and Mairi need to decide if love can flourish even when it seems their families would prevent it.

Mairi was a difficult character to read because she was often portrayed as in control of her emotions, and I really liked that she wasn't pouting, but she did throw things. I did really like that she never became overwhelmed, depressed, or scream about her predicament. Granted it was a crazy situation but it was nice that she wasn't just another "feisty" heroine who wins the hero over by being "sassy." This was because she had been raised to keep things bottled up inside her and it was even more enjoyable because it was only with Rob that she learned to express herself and not have to worry about the consequences. I really liked Rob's character because of how he tried so desperately not to care what his family thinks and believes that he is showing them all up but really he is desperate for them to love and want him as much as he loves them. However he is only 25! I really can't say why I have no problems with younger heroines (Mairi's 19) but really young heroes just don't really add up for me; perhaps because women mature faster than men? Unfortunately there was very little sex in the book- maybe one or two scenes and neither of them were particularly hot.

I really enjoyed the plot involving Mairi's inheritance because it really added an interesting element to the story and because it really played into the development of their relationship. Robert has to "choose" between Mairi and his family and there is the possibility that if Mairi inherits Rob will always be "lower" on the hierarchy than his own wife. Scott does a great job writing her character's emotions and really in depth details of what they are thinking and their motivations and does it equally well from Mairi and Rob's POV. I easily became confused while reading this book.Although there was a map provided it seemed as though many of the places mentioned were not mentioned on it and there were no rivers on it which was a shame as several rivers were mentioned. There was also a glossary but I wish there had been a list of characters as well as some of them had more than one name or very similar names and there were quite a few secondary characters. I also really liked the build up to her next novel featuring Mairi's half- sister Fiona.

Rating: Really enjoyed this book and the side plot but I really wish there had been hotter steamy scenes. Great side plot, great characters, great writing.